Thicker Than Water
by Awesomenorwegian
Summary: A series of events unfold and a fourteen year old Tsukune Aono finds himself at the Akashiya household. In the future lies Yokai Academy, and even further, a confrontation with the shadowy masked king. But before he can reach that far, he has quite a bit of growing up to do. Rated T for now. Warning: I make shit up as I go along.
1. The dark lord of vampires

**I don't own any of the characters; they are the property of Akihisa Ikeda (may the flying spaghetti monster bless his heart for creating R+V), blah, blah blah. Picture belongs to weissdrum on deviantart. This is my first Rosario + Vampire fanfic, so please be harsh. **

Tsukune Aono awoke to the sound of children weeping and the smell of sweat, blood and fear. His head was covered by some kind of hood, which made breathing hard, but not impossible. He tried to get up on his knees and remove the hood, but found his wrists and ankles bound so roughly with duct tape that the scrim was cutting into his flesh. He began to trash wildly as the adrenalin set in; driving away the lingering drowsiness from the heavy sleep he'd just emerged from. He tried to throw the hood off by waving his head to the side abruptly, but it was laced around his head tightly, and out of reach of his hands, which were bound behind his back. The hood was not going anywhere.

Suddenly, his feet hit something soft, and a thin whimper could be heard approximately a foot from the place he'd hit. He was not alone.

"Hello?" he tried to say, but the combination of his dry throat and the hood effectively made his voice inaudible to anyone more than a meter away.

What the hell was going on!? What the hell had happened!? He'd … he'd gone downtown with a couple of his buddies … to see a movie or something. He'd skipped through the park on his way home, after saying goodbye to Saito, and then … fuck, he couldn't remember!

Without warning, the metal floor that the he was lying on bounced roughly, causing him to roll over to the side. _Oh shit, I'm in a car or something! I'm being kidnapped! _He began to trash wildly again, but achieved nothing but tightening the tapes fastened around his limbs further. He tried to get up into a sitting position, but the vehicle bounced again, and he fell over, bruising his shoulder. Somebody whimpered again.

_I can't do anything, _he realized, and it was like a finger of ice ran down his spine. _I'm helpless. _

As soon as he'd finished the thought, the vehicle came to a halt, and somewhere there was a loud bang as metal hit stone. Someone had lowered a garage door behind them. A few seconds later, he heard a door being slammed open, and a cold chill ran across his legs. A large, coarse hand seized his left arm, and he was dragged across the floor of the vehicle, down a ramp of some kind, and dropped to the ground like a sack of fertilizer. Someone screamed. It sounded like a young girl.

"Shut up!" a voice snarled, and Tsukune heard a thump.

"Hey, be careful man, that one has a pretty face under there," another voice said. "If you ruin it, we won't be able to charge nearly as much."

"Yeah, yeah," the first voice grunted. "Ok, sweetie, just be quiet and uncle Retch won't place another finger on you. But if you make another sound, Imma smash your skull like it was made of cardboard and fuck your corpse. Deal?"

Not a mouse's squeak was heard.

"Well, what do you know, bitch is a quick learner."

About two minutes passed while the two men hauled the rest of the frightened-to-death cargo out of the vehicle. Tsukune kept as still as possible, afraid of provoking the wrath of the first man. It seemed like hours before they were finally finished, although it couldn't possibly have been more than a few minutes at most. At one point, one of the victims, a grown man by the sound of his voice, began to scream wildly, his voice muffled by the hood. Tsukune still managed to catch something about a fourteen year old son before his screeching ended abruptly with a sound that reminded Tsukune of the peanuts he'd eaten in the movies that very night. The sound was just like that of a peanut fracturing.

"Oh, fuck me, man!" the second voice yelled. "You didn't have to smear the floor with his goddamn brains!"

"Shut the fuck up," the first voice snarled. "He was going to be a reject anyway. Nobody wants a worn-out, middle-aged office fuck."

"And who's going to clean that shit up!?"

Coarse laughter. "Fuck if I know, I kinda like the smell. Go get a bottle of ammonia if it bothers you so fucking much."

"Whatever. We need to get these guys ready for the middleman."

"Sure thing." Heavy footsteps drew near. "Rise and shine, kiddo!"

The hood around his head was loosened, and then snatched away. Tsukune was momentarily dazzled by a bright light, forcing him to squint. A massive guy was grinning down at him. He had to be seven feet tall, at the very least, with arms like an American heavyweight champion and a face that looked so brutish that not even a mother with a heart of stone could've loved it. He grabbed Tsukune by the shirt and lifted him effortlessly, hanging him on a hook nailed to the wall as if he was a newly slaughtered pig. The brute let go of him and stepped out his field of vision, allowing him to take in his surroundings for the first time.

The place looked most of all like an abandoned warehouse. The truck that had brought them all here was parked a dozen meters away. The rest of the "cargo" was still lying on the ground, all nine of them, kids and adults. One of them lay sprawled out in an unnatural way. A dark red substance was seeping out of the hood that covered his head. The peanut.

The owner of the second voice was a pale, scrawny individual, who did not have a single strand of hair on his body, not even eyelashes. He and the brutish man were hanging the rest of the victims up on other hooks beside Tsukune. Most of them appeared to be unconscious. He spotted three kids, probably 9-11 years old, four teens and two adults, one of which was unceremoniously tossed back into the truck. Finally, the two kidnappers both took a step back, gauging the people hanging on the wall like a trout they'd just fished out of the sea.

"Not a bad catch," said the brute. "The pretty bitch must be worth, what, 300 000 yen?"

"If you can refrain from fucking her up before the middleman arrives, yes," the scrawny man said. "Incubi are always looking for young beauties to feed on."

Incubi!? What was that, some kind of gang? What the hell had he managed to get himself mixed up in?

"The old bitch can't be worth much though," the brute continued, motioning at the adult that remained, a woman at the end of her thirties that seemed to have fainted. "What the hell did you take her for?"

The scrawny guy shrugged. "I just seized the opportunity when it arose. Even if she isn't worth much it took, like, zero effort to catch her."

One of the children, a boy that looked like he was the youngest person in the room, woke up, and began to scream. Before the brute could act on it, the scrawny guy hurried forward and pressed a cloth against the boy's mouth and nose. The boy continued to kick and let out muffled screams for a few seconds, and then became limp again.

"I fucking hate kids," the brute growled. "Good for nothing little crybabies. If my wife ever decides to pop one out, Imma eat it."

Something stuck Tsukune in the arm. He glanced down and saw that a sharp bolt was sticking out of the wall. He began to rub his taped wrists against it frantically, but had to stop after a few seconds, when the brute decided to approach him.

"What about pretty boy here," he said to his partner. "You think there's a succubus out there who would pay good money for a piece of that?"

"Sure, but the snow women might pay more for a fresh, young virgin boy like this," the scrawny guy answered. "They like them young, and I hear their numbers just keep decreasing."

Succubus? Snow women? What the hell were they talking about!? More weird gang names? Could "the Snow Women" be the name of a female slaver ring?

"What do you think, boy?" the brute suddenly ask, grabbing the Tsukune's chin with one hand. "What do you recon you're worth?"

Tsukune said nothing. _It's a trap! If I say anything, he'll hurt me!_

The brute frowned. "Are you deaf, kid? I asked you what you think you're worth!"

"That is for me to decide," a cold voice stated.

The brute spun around, and the scrawny guy took an involuntary step back. A man dressed completely in black had appeared in the middle of the room. From where, Tsukune had no idea. He could've sworn the spot where the man now stood had been empty a moment before.

"Middleman," the brute grunted softly, stepping away from Tsukune.

The black clad man let his gaze sweep over the prisoners on the wall. His face was covered by cloth with two slits cut out so that he could see, and when his gaze finally fell on Tsukune, the boy could dimly see the glitter of two dark eyes.

"I have no use for that one," the black clad man finally said, gesturing at the grown woman. "The rest I'll take for 20 000 per head."

"What!?" the brute exclaimed, outraged. He stomped over to the girl he'd struck and cupped her cheeks in one hand. "This one alone has to be worth 250 000 yen at least!"

"You fools were careless tonight," the black clad man answered, as calm as ever. "You were spotted by the dark lords' lackeys. Accept my offer and I'll take them off your hands, before…"

"Bullshit!" the brute interrupted, taking a heavy step toward the black clad man. He was so angry that he was practically convulsing. "You don't think I know what you're doing? You're trying to bullshit us into selling at an exorbitant fucking price!"

"Hey, ease down, man!" the scrawny guy said, stepping between his friend and the black clad man. "We can talk this out."

"300 000 for the girl, and 100 000 for each of the rest," the brute spat. "Take it or fuck off!"

"Calm the fuck down, man!" the scrawny guy hissed. "You're gonna make me lose a lot of money!"

"He's looking down on us, Nobu," the brute snapped. "Thinks he can twist us around his pretty, little fingers just because he works for a big shot! I'm tired of these arrogant assholes from the city! We'll sell them ourselves!"

"An amusing notion," the black clad man said. "How do you expect to do that without connections? You two won't last a week before the dark lords catch you, and when they do, they'll put your heads on spikes for all monsters to see."

_Monsters? _Tsukune thought. He began to rub his wrists against the bolt again.

"We'll accept your price," the scrawny guy said hurriedly. He motioned at the people on the wall. "Just take them and leave."

"They are not going anywhere!" the brute practically screamed, now shaking like a newborn calf. It was like his whole body was getting blurry.

"Kaito, what the fuck are you doing!?" the scrawny guy shouted. "You can't transform here!"

"No self-control whatsoever," the black clad man stated. "Disgraceful."

Tsukune bit back a scream, all thoughts of escape forgotten. Where the brutish man had stood just seconds ago was a horrid creature, nearly 10 feet tall, covered in hard, leathery skin that lay as an armor around the monster's bulging muscles. The pretty girl, who right up until now had managed to stay quiet, began to scream and sob hysterically. The creature whirled around, grabbed her head with one, clawed hand, and crushed it like melon, and flung the mutilated corpse at the black clad man. She landed at his feet, blood and brain matter spilling on his dark cloak.

"Now she's worth 20 000," the creature rumbled.

The black clad man swept his hand across the dirtied cloak, and just like that, it was clean again. "You just signed your own death warrant," he said serenely.

The hulking creature chuckled. "Do your worst, sorcerer. I can take it."

"I don't have to," the black clad man said. "Because what you fail to understand, you moronic, half-bred nitwit, is that there is a dark lord in this town tonight. And since you just stopped concealing your aura by transforming, it's safe to say that she is on her way here right now."

Tsukune could practically _feel _the brute go pale as snow. "What!?" he hissed.

"That was what I was trying to tell you, before you threw your little tantrum. My advice to you would be to get rid of all witnesses, and then run like hell," the black clad man continued, gesturing at the people on the wall. "Though I highly doubt you'll make it. Goodbye." And then the black clad man was gone in a puff of black smoke.

Stunned silence ruled the room for several seconds, and then the scrawny guy started screaming. "The fuck have you done, you bastard!"

"He … he was bluffing," the brutish creature stated numbly.

"The fuck would he lie about that for!?" the scrawny guy shouted, now starting to shake in the same manner as the brute had done a minute earlier. His form became blurry, just in the same way, and suddenly, he'd transformed into a tailed creature covered in green scales. He looked like a Komodo dragon walking upright.

_I'm hallucinating, _Tsukune reasoned. _They pumped me full of drugs or something when they kidnapped me. That's why I'm seeing all this. _

"We gotta kill them!" the lizard man wheezed, pulling a gun from a pocket. "Kill 'em all, so that they can't snitch on us!" And just like that, he pointed the gun at Tsukune … and fired.

The sound of the gunshot however, was completely drowned out by the thundering noise of the brick wall on the other end of the room being smashed to pieces. Tsukune thought he heard a jet break the sound barrier, and then, suddenly, there was another person in the room that had not been there a split second before, standing right in front of him, holding the bullet from the lizard man's gun between her thumb and forefinger, dressed in the same fashion as the black clad man, except that she wasn't wearing a hood. She was, without a single shred of doubt, the most beautiful woman Tsukune had ever seen. Her angelic, heart-shaped face was framed by long, strawberry strands of hair, set up by a red ribbon. Her emerald eyes were locked with Tsukune's, and for the first time since he woke up, the young boy was completely calm.

The pink haired woman moved her right hand so swiftly that Tsukune found himself completely unable to follow it with his eyes, slicing through the tape that bound him like a keel cuts through water. He fell down on his ass, looking up at his savior with wonder.

"Are you okay, young man?" she asked, her voice low and sultry.

Tsukune nodded wordlessly.

The pink haired woman turned around to face the two monsters, which both seemed to have struck root. The lizard man made a sound that vaguely resembled a puppy's whimper.

"It's been a while since I caught two slavers red-handed," she said, her voice cold as ice. She took a step forward. "You will tell me who you're working for."

The brute charged. How he could possibly have thought that he stood a chance after the pink haired woman's display of insane power just a few seconds previous, would remain a mystery to Tsukune for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, he charged.

Once again, there was the sound of a jet crushing its way through the sound barrier, and then the pink haired woman was behind the brute, hanging in the air. Using her momentum, she twisted around, delivering a savage kick to the creature's head. Tsukune had time to hear another peanut crack before the brute was cannonballed into the wall and buried in a pile of rubble.

The gun slipped from the lizard man's fingers, and he fell to his knees, pressing his forehead to the ground in an act of complete submission. "Please spare me, I'll tell you everything!"

The pink haired woman zoomed over to him, looking down on him with distaste. "Later," she said, punching him on the back of his head, driving his face into the ground. He lost his consciousness, and probably most of his teeth by the sound of it.

The pink haired woman pulled out a small capsule, dropping it on the unconscious lizard man. Upon hitting his coarse skin, its size began to increase rapidly, coiling itself around him like a python, until he was completely covered by it. It then retreated back to its original form, and the pink haired woman let it slide back into the pocket she'd retrieved it from. She then walked back to Tsukune and the unconscious kidnap victims at a normal pace. She stopped in front of him, offering her hand. "It's okay, young man," she said softly, looking at him with eyes that seemed to penetrate his skin and scrutinize his very soul. "I mean you no harm."

Tsukune took her hand hesitantly, shuddering a little as he felt her skin on his palm. It was very cold. She pulled him to his feet with the strength of a body builder. She reached into another pocket, pulling out a tiny bottle filled with golden liquid.

"Drink this," she insisted. "It will calm you down and make the shock go away."

Tsukune accepted it, halfway because he was not about to argue with person that apparently was strong enough to kill him with a flick of her fingers, and halfway because, for some reason, he just couldn't help but to trust this woman. Tranquility, authority and warmth all seemed to radiate from her simultaneously. He emptied the bottle in one gulp. A few seconds later, a pleasant feeling began to spread through his body, making his heart beat slower and stopping the shaking of his hands.

The pink haired woman smiled, making her face, impossible as it seemed, even more beautiful. "There, that's much better I think." She turned around and grabbed one of the children on the wall by the armpits, lifting him up and placing him on the ground gently. Tsukune stepped in to help, and within a couple of minutes, they had all of them lying on the ground, side by side, sleeping peacefully. It was too late for the pretty girl though. The pink haired woman kneeled beside her and closed her eyes, mumbling something that sounded like a prayer, or perhaps an apology.

"The rest seem relatively unharmed though," the pink haired woman said as she rose up again. "All things considered, it could've gone a lot worse."

"There's one in there," Tsukune said, pointing at the truck.

"He's dead," she said. "I cannot hear his heartbeat."

If Tsukune had not witnessed her move as fast as Wally West a few minutes prior, he would reacted with disbelief at her claiming she could hear the heartbeat of a person lying in a truck more than a dozen meters away. But he _had _seen her move as fast as Wally West, and as such, he had no trouble believing her.

"Oh," he said.

The woman's head suddenly snapped around, and she stared intently at the hole she'd punched in the wall. "Sirens," she stated. "The police are on their way." She zoomed over to the rubble where the brute had been buried, throwing boulder-sized rocks away like they were made out of air.

The brute's head was still largely intact, but now twice as ugly as before. The pink haired woman placed a finger on his forehead and closed her eyes. The brute then shrunk back to his original, human size, both the claws and the leathery skin gone.

Meanwhile, Tsukune had finally found the presence of mind to check his wristwatch. It showed 02:04. The movie he'd seen with his friends had ended at ten o'clock. He should've been home almost four hours ago!

Tsukune and his father had lived alone for fourteen years now, after his mother had died birthing him. His father, Koji, had never quite recovered from the loss of the love of his life, and had always been extremely protective of his son. One time when Tsukune had fallen while on the swing and grazed his arm, his father had rushed him to the hospital, despite Tsukune's loud complaints and reassurances that he was fine.

Tsukune checked his phone (which was still working, thank god), and was not surprised that he had over 50 missed calls, all from his father. No doubt the old man was running through the streets of the town right now, shouting his lungs out. He sighed and typed in his father's number, lifting the phone to his ear. His eyes wandered to the truck. That poor man lying in there … what was it he'd said? "_I have fourteen year old son!_" Somewhere out there, there was a young boy who'd just been made an orphan, and he didn't even know it yet. Shit, if the kid was fourteen, he might know him. He was fourteen himself after all…

It was like the warm, pleasant effect of the potion the pink haired woman had given to him was blown away be an icy wind, leaving only a chill inside his body.

_Hello darkness my old friend_

His father had always had a preference for American music, particularly the duo Simon & Garfunkel, which was big during the late 1960s, if he remembered correctly. In fact, his father loved the duo so much that he'd chosen one of their most popular songs as his ringtone.

_I've come to talk with you again_

Tsukune began to walk forward, his phone slipping from his fingers. His feet dragged across the floor, like he was sleepwalking.

_because a vision softly creeping_

He walked up the ramp behind the truck and pushed the half-closed doors open. The odors of blood, sweat and fear hit him in the face like a slap. Light welled forth into the dim cargo compartment. It fell on the trail of blood that had been left behind as the brute dragged the corpse along the ground.

_left its seeds while I were sleeping_

Tsukune was suddenly five years old again, watching the fireworks with his father on New Year's Eve at the local temple. He remembered vividly sitting on his father's shoulders with a stick of cotton candy in his hand, screaming at the sky in joy.

_and the vision that was planted in my brain_

He walked forward slowly, squinting through the dark. It was like all color was being drained from his vision, leaving nothing but gray. The dead man was lying in a pile in the corner. The hood had slipped off of his head, but Tsukune couldn't make out the facial features in the darkness.

_still remains_

The white shirt, the khaki pants, the black shoes, he knew them all. He didn't know the face though, now that he'd come close enough to see it clearly, because it had been smashed into an unrecognizable mush of blood, bone and tissue. He knew the phone though, and the name blinking on the phone's screen. The name of the person that was calling. Tsukune Aono.

_within the sound_

Dad?

_of silence_

A hand appeared on his right shoulder, holding him back. "It's too late, boy," she said softly.

"I … my dad…" His vision blurry with tears, he reached for his father's brutalized face.

"He is gone, boy. That thing lying there is just bones and decaying meat. Just let go." She placed a hand on his other shoulder, pulling him back gently, but determinedly.

"I have to bury him…"

"The police are almost here. I must be gone before they arrive."

"Just go then," he said quietly.

"You have to come with me."

"Why?"

"Because of what you've seen."

"I won't tell anyone."

"I believe you, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to bring you with me. I need you to tell me what you saw before I arrived here."

Tsukune could hear the sirens now. They couldn't be more than a block away. The pink haired woman pulled him back a little further. He couldn't see his father's face anymore.

"I can't…"

"I'll take you to the funeral later. You can make your peace then. Now come."

She began to pull more persistently. He let her, and not because he knew she could easily just drag him with her if he tried to resist. He just didn't have the strength to fight a mouse at the moment. So he let her pull him out of the truck, down the ramp, past his slumbering, fellow, kidnap victims, who would all be reunited with their families in a few hours, out of the hole she'd punched in the wall, across the street, and into the shadows on the other side.

**AN: Post a review if you feel like it. I'm not the kind of guy who starts to cry when he gets a little criticism flung his way. If you want to stroke my ego by praising this as the greatest piece of literature you've ever read, that's fine too. **


	2. Farewell and into the unknown

**Well, whad'ya know, it actually became popular. Maybe I'll live up to my pen name in time after all. I guess I've got no choice but to soldier on. **

Tsukune looked down at the steaming hot cup of tea in his hand. He was sitting in his living room, at the dining table. Opposite of him sat the pink haired woman. He was not quite sure how they'd gotten here. The last hour was nothing but a complete haze.

_He's gone. _

He could see the hall from here, and the entrance door. He half expected his father to stumble into the house, pull his hand through that dark chocolate hair which his son had inherited, see his father's face light up as he laid his eyes upon his last, living family member, and rush into the room and pull his son into a tight hug. But that was not going to happen, no matter how much he wanted it to. He began to stare at the cup again.

"You should drink it," the pink haired woman said. "It'll make you feel better."

"More drugs?" he asked dully.

She shook her head. "It won't cloud your mind; it'll just keep the depression at bay." She placed on slender hand on her chest. "I promise."

Tsukune picked up the cup and took a sip. It tasted really good. Sweet and warm. He took another sip. Then another. Then he took a draught that emptied half the cup, ignoring how his tongue got burned in the process, secretly hoping that the pink haired woman was lying, that the tea _would _cloud his mind. That it would make him forget. Of course it didn't though. It was just the same warm sensation he'd felt when she'd given him that first drink. Maybe a touch stronger.

The pink haired woman folded her hands on the table. "I know this probably won't make difference to you … but I know how you feel. I truly do. A long time ago, I lost someone important to me as well. And I need you to listen to me when I tell you this: _It'll get better._ It might take a while, but in the end, you'll come to terms with your father's demise."

Tsukune's eyes wandered to the hall again. Perhaps this was all just some dream. Perhaps he'd wake up in a minute or so, to the sound of that god awful alarm clock his dad had bought him at a local flea market. It would be the first time he'd be glad to hear that ear-raping shrieking. But then again, is there a single sound in existence that seems pleasant when it originates from an alarm clock?

"Tsukune?"

The young boy looked at her. When had he told her his name? On their way here? He couldn't remember that. But then again, he didn't remember how he got here in the first place either. "Yeah?"

The pink haired woman reached across the table and put her hand on his. Lightly. "I need to know what happened at the warehouse before you arrived. Did you see someone else there, perhaps? Someone who took off before I arrived?"

Tsukune thought of it. His mind seemed to work a bit slower as the effect of the tea took hold. "There was a man dressed in black. They called him 'Middleman', I think. He … said that there was a dark lord in this town, and that she was coming because the big guy had transformed or something." His dull eyes met hers. "Are you the dark lord?"

"I am one of them," she said.

"So you're evil?" he asked. Not that he would have given a single shit if she were. She'd just saved his life after all.

That made her chuckle. "Some would undoubtedly say I am. Personally, I don't consider myself an evil person."

Good enough for Tsukune. "Why do you call yourself a 'dark lord', then?"

"It's a title," she answered. "It recognizes me as one of the rulers of the Yokai dimensions."

"So … monsters actually exist?"

"That's right."

"Then, are you a monster as well?"

She straightened her back, and when she spoke next, it was like the very air around her quivered with authority. "I am Akasha Bloodriver, first of the dark lords, slayer of Alucard, and head of the elder council." The aura of power faded, and she smirked, a playful twinkle in her eyes. "Also, I'm one of the oldest vampires alive."

"Cool," Tsukune said. He'd always thought that vampires were the coolest of monsters. "Are you going to drink my blood now?"

"No," she said. "I'm not."

"Why? Do I smell bad or something?"

"No, no," the pink haired woman, or Akasha, denied. "In fact," she murmured as she leaned forward again, "you smell quite exquisite."

"There's tomato juice in the fridge," Tsukune said, pointing towards the kitchen. He made a pause. "Do you drink tomato juice? Or is manga bullshit?"

"No."

"Uh, sorry, which question did you just answer?"

"I do not drink tomato juice."

"Then you'll have to raid the hospital or something, if you're hungry I mean. Or you could just nab some random guy off the street I guess." Another pause. "I was joking. Don't do that."

"Young man," Akasha said, her voice a touch more strict, "I just saved you and nearly a dozen other humans from slavery and/or certain death. Granted, I was too slow to save two of them, but do I seem like the kind of vampire that would assault innocent people?"

"You're right," Tsukune said. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to offend you, mam … I mean, dark lord." He made a clumsy attempt at bowing, but forgot to stand up first, and thus, the combination of him being both partially drugged and completely exhausted made him bang his forehead on the kitchen table. "Ouch." Pause. "Sorry."

Akasha actually tittered. "That's quite alright, young man, it's quite alright."

"Do you sparkle?" Tsukune asked suddenly.

Akasha lifted a strawberry eyebrow. "What?"

"Do you sparkle? In the sunlight I mean."

"No."

Tsukune nodded approvingly. If what Akasha said was something to go by, vampires did _not_ sparkle in the sunlight, and nor were they familiar with pop culture. Win and win.

"I'm very glad you don't sparkle," he said sincerely.

Akasha removed the half-full cup of tea in front of him with one of those lightning fast movements. "I think you've had enough of that." And then to herself: "Maybe it's a bit too potent for humans?"

"It tasted good," Tsukune said, slightly worried he'd somehow disrespected her culinary skills. "Like lemon and … candyfloss." A tear ran down his right cheek for some reason.

"Do you have anyone to go to?" Akasha suddenly inquired. "Grandparents, an uncle or an aunt? A friend of the family maybe?"

"I don't know anything about mother's family," Tsukune said. "She died when she gave birth to me. Dad's an only child, and his parents died long ago. I…" He paused again, this time because of a monumental realization. "…I have no family anymore."

The self-proclaimed dark lord stared at him for a long while, her face inscrutable. Tsukune, on the other hand, had finally begun to think about the ramifications of tonight's events. He was going to end up in an orphanage. Or a foster home. He was going to have leave to the house he'd grown up in, probably the town too. He'd have to travel to some place he didn't know, and live with people who didn't know him. No…

"Come with me," Akasha said softly.

His head jerked up, his mind clear again. "What?"

"I knew those slavers was in this town, but I still failed to track them down in time," Akasha explained. "Your father lost his life because I was too slow, and as a result, I feel responsible for you." She rose up. "Come with me, and I'll take care of you. If you don't…" she placed a red pill on the table, "you'll have to eat this. It will erase all your memories of tonight's events. As a dark lord, I have to uphold monster law, which dictates that no unsupervised human can be aware of the existence of monsters. You'll wake up tomorrow, and you'll remember nothing, including your father's death." She took a step back, regarding him with impassive, emerald eyes.

Tsukune looked down on the little, red pill. There it was, the oblivion he'd wished for when he'd drunk her tea. But it was only momentarily though, fake. He'd be happy for a few hours the next morning. He'd wake up, discover his father's bed empty, assume dad had decided to work early without telling him, and then spend a few hours in blissful ignorance, until the evening, when dad should've returned. He'd call to the office, and they'd tell him his father had never been there that day. A dark knot would form in his stomach, because he knew his father would never go anywhere besides to work without telling him. Then he would call the police, and the Sound of Silence would echo in his ears once again.

He pushed the pill away.

For a moment, it seemed like some deep emotion flashed across Akasha's face, but it was dark in the room and he was exhausted. It was gone so quickly that he at once began to doubt that he'd seen it at all.

"Can I pack some things first, dark lord?" he said.

"Akasha," Akasha said.

"Akasha-san," he said, meeting her halfway.

She smiled. "Of course. I'll wait here. Take what time you need."

He got up and walked into the living room. How many times had he fallen asleep on his father's lap in that couch, while watching some movie far into the night? How many times had they eaten together on that porch, watching as the sun slowly disappeared over the hills to the west? It seemed just … surreal that it was all over.

The object he wanted was a picture of him and his dad, taken nine years ago at the local temple. Both he and his dad were grinning widely. He was seated on his father's shoulders. Behind them, the sky was illuminated by the countless, multi-colored lights of the fireworks. Two people. Not a care in the world.

He broke the glass and the frame and stuffed the picture into his pocket. He then walked up the stairs to his room, making an effort of not glancing in the direction of his father's bedroom. He stood in the middle of the room for a minute, looking on his many possessions with new eyes. The computer, the CD-player, the manga scattered everywhere, the porn collection under his bed. Five hours ago, he'd valued them almost more than his friends. Now, he couldn't have cared less about them.

He grabbed his schoolbag, emptying its contents on the floor. He then proceeded to collect a select, few items, dropping them into the bag one by one. He also retrieved his toothbrush and paste from the bathroom, mostly out of old, sleepover habit. Then he walked down the stairs again.

Akasha was waiting for him in the hall, motionless. He descended the last step, and the shadowy statue came alive. Emerald eyes glowed like green fire in the darkness. "Are you sure you're finished? You might not be able to return for quite some time. I was lying when I said I'd take you to your father's funeral."

Tsukune examined himself for a moment, and found that he had no desire whatsoever to attend his father's funeral. In time, it would be hard enough to remember him as he was in life without another memory of him in death to contend with, but more importantly, he didn't want to meet the others. Didn't want their pointless condolences or assurances that things were going to be fine. Better to just move on.

"I'm finished."

She nodded, opening the door. They stepped out into the night together, vampire and boy. Akasha placed her hand on his shoulder, protectively this time, and led him out into the abandoned streets. Despite himself, he couldn't help but to glance over his shoulder. There it was, his childhood home, his whole world, everything he'd ever known. He'd stepped over the door sill, and now it was only a memory.

He turned his head away, and for the second time that night, the two of them disappeared into the shadows.

**Well, if this is going to be my main project, I'll need a beta reader (I've edited the first chapter for grammar mistakes for, like, four times already since putting it up). If you're interested, let me know by review or message. **

**Until next time, my fellow jackasses. **


	3. The house in the forest

**Yeah, this took a long while, I know, but believe me, this time I actually had a legit excuse for being so fucking slow. Enjoy.**

* * *

Tsukune had expected a lot of things from the home of a vampire queen, or whatever Akasha actually was, but it certainly wasn't this.

"Welcome to the Akashiya household," Akasha said as she stepped out of the black limo that had brought them there. "I imagine it's not quite what you expected."

"No kidding," Tsukune breathed. What he'd expected was some old, dark castle atop a barren hill in the middle of nowhere. What he was seeing now however, was a mansion made out of light, warm woodwork in the middle of a sunny clearing surrounded by a green, well cared for lawn. If anything, it looked like the home of the three bears from Goldilocks. The three _rich _bears.

"How the hell did we get here this quickly," Tsukune asked, dazed. They'd only been driving for maybe an hour, and he was positive no place like this existed within a fifty mile radius of his town. They'd just entered a tunnel on a side road he'd never been before, and then suddenly they were in the middle of some enchanted, freaking forest!

As if she'd just read his mind, Akasha said: "The tunnel we entered is part of an interdimensional tunnel system that stretches across most of Japan. Much quicker and more comfortable than flying, no?"

Tsukune had never flown anywhere in his life, but nodded in agreement nonetheless. "Where are we, somewhere way south?"

"No," Akasha said as the suited chauffeur turned the limo around and disappeared between the trees. "This area is a tiny dimension of its own, separated from the human world." She squatted and ran her hand across the brown earth affectionately. "One of the many benefits of being a Dark Lord is that I get to have this one all for myself." She rose. "Come, I'll show you the rest of the property."

They walked along a graveled path up to the cobblestoned courtyard in front of the mansion. A circular fountain of white marble had been placed in front of the entrance door. Jets of water poured out of the mouths of creatures that had to be elves, or nymphs or something. The mansion itself was at least five floors tall, with lots of large windows framed in mahogany that invited in the sun. Speaking of which…

"You say you're a vampire, and yet the sun does not hurt you?" he asked.

"I've accumulated power for centuries by consuming the blood of powerful monsters I've defeated," Akasha answered, pushing the entrance door open. "The sun would be damaging, perhaps even fatal to a weaker vampire, but I evolved beyond that a long time ago."

Inside was a grand hall with a large staircase that led up to the second floor. Before Tsukune could take it all in, a mature, grey-haired manservant appeared in a doorway on the right, bowing respectfully to the Akasha.

"Welcome home, Akasha-sama," he said. "I see you've brought a guest."

"Masao," Akasha said, delighted. She motioned for Tsukune to walk up to the man. "This is Tsukune. He will be staying with us from now on, so please show him to his room. The guest room on the fourth floor should do."

"Certainly," Masao said, smiling friendly down at Tsukune.

"Also, where is my daughter?"

"Moka-sama has been out in the woods all morning," the manservant answered. "My guess is she'll soon grow hungry and return."

"That girl never does what she's told," Akasha sighed, but her emerald eyes were warm with fondness as she said so. She turned back to Tsukune. "Tsukune, please go with Masao. I have something to take care of."

Tsukune would rather have stayed with her for a little while longer. He felt very safe around her, and didn't like the thought of being left alone with this stranger, but he didn't want to sound like a baby, so he nodded and followed the old butler up the stairs. He couldn't help but to quickly glance back as he reached the second floor. Akasha was still standing at the bottom of the staircase, examining a small capsule. He recognized it instantly as the object she'd use to trap that lizard man. Was he really _inside _that tiny thing? And alive? If he was, Tsukune had no doubt he would soon be wishing he wasn't.

"Here you go, Tsukune-san," Masao said as they reached the fourth floor, opening the first door on the right. The room inside was probably three times the size of his old bedroom, with a gigantic bed and a connecting bathroom. One of the walls was made entirely out of glass, allowing Tsukune to see the wind play with the trees outside.

"Wow," the young boy muttered.

"If you've yet to eat breakfast, I can cook something up for you," the manservant offered. Tsukune was about to politely decline, but then he remembered that it had been at least seven hours since his last meal.

"Uh, sure. That would be nice."

The manservant nodded and took his leave, closing the door behind him. Tsukune dumped his bag on the bed and proceeded to walk up to the glass wall, studying the estate outside. There was a garden on this side of the house, filled with plants, flowers and trees from every continent. Most impressive of all was an ancient-looking oak with a trunk so thick that five grown men holding hands could not have reached around it.

He leaned forward, resting his forehead on the cool glass. Why wasn't he tearing up right now? Where were the sobs, the overwhelming sense of loss? Had it really not sunk in yet? After he'd seen his father's brutalized corpse lying in front of him, smelling of fresh blood. Why wasn't he crying right now? Was there something wrong with him?

He closed his eyes. Vampires were real. Lizard men were real. _Monsters _were real. And he was living with them. Thinking of that now, a myriad of questions popped up in his mind. Where did the monsters live? How did they keep their existence a secret? Akasha had talked about other dimensions; he guessed that was a part of it.

Akasha, why on earth had she brought him here? She'd said she felt responsible for him, but why should a Dark Lord (whatever the hell that was) give a shit about him? Was she really that caring? In most of the movies he'd seen, vampires rarely gave two shits about people that wasn't them. Would she expect him to donate blood to pay his rent? To be honest, that would probably be a fair deal, considering the luxurious living quarters she'd given him. Still, he hoped giving her the blood wouldn't be too painful. He really, _really _hated needles.

He sighed, raising his eyelids again, staring right into a pair of crimson eyes with slits for pupils.

…

Wait, what?

He let out a surprised shout and tumbled backwards. There was a girl right outside of the glass wall, a girl with pale, swan-like skin and silver hair that practically shimmered in the sunlight. She was standing on of the old oak's thick branches, one whose leaves almost brushed against the glass wall. She was standing on her toes, her back slightly hunched, looking at him with simple curiosity. She was wearing a red dress with straps, which really emphasized the fierceness of her crimson eyes.

They stared at each other for what may have been a few seconds or several minutes, Tsukune had no idea. Then, as suddenly as she'd appeared, she was gone again, leaving the branch she'd been standing on a second before bouncing up and down. Tsukune blinked, half expecting her to be back in his sight, but no. She was gone.

He got back on his feet shakily, just before the door to his room was opened, and Masao entered with a plate of Yakitori. The smell of fried chicken made Tsukune's stomach crumple in anticipation, and for a moment, he forgot what he'd just seen. He jumped the food as soon as Masao had placed it on the bedside table, almost forgetting to thank the manservant.

"No problem," Masao said, watching the young boy wolf down his cooking with a wry smile.

Tsukune leaned back in the bed with a moan, stroking his bulging stomach. He doubted he'd ever eaten this quickly before. He looked over at the manservant, forcing back a burp.

"Masao-san?"

"Yes?"

"Are you a monster?" Tsukune asked, hoping it was not an offensive question to ask.

"I am," the manservant nodded.

"What kind?" Tsukune asked, emboldened by Masao's forthcomingness.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Tsukune-san, but I'm not allowed to tell. You see, I'm in charge of the estate's security you see, and as such, I must keep my true nature concealed at all times, so that I can surprise the bad guys when they attack," Masao said, blinking cunningly.

"I see," Tsukune said, a little disappointed. "I got some other questions though."

"Ask away," the manservant said, seating himself in a comfy armchair by the wall.

Tsukune proceeded to tell him the whole story of what had transpired last night, expecting the tears to finally come as he spoke, but his eyes remained dry as sand. He told the manservant everything without his voice trembling even once. When he was done, the manservant lowered his head, speaking in a quiet voice: "My condolences, Tsukune-san. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Tsukune just shrugged. "Anyway, that brings up my second question. Do you know who those guys were?"

Masao's eyes narrowed. "Those _men _were the lowest scum the monster dimensions have to offer. They are outcasts, banished from their own homes because of various crimes they've committed, and so they hide in the human world, doing any job, no matter how despicable, to make a living. For the most part they work as slavers, trafficking kidnapped humans back into the monster dimensions. Sadly, it's become quite a lucrative business over the years, and keeps expanding, no matter how hard Akasha-sama tries to put a stop to it."

"Yeah, that's another question I've got. Akasha-san is a vampire, so why would she care about humans?"

"Why would she care about humans?" Masao repeated incredulously. "Tsukune-san, Akasha-sama cares about _everyone! _She defends those who are in need of protection, no matter what race or dimension they belong in. She's the greatest person you and I have ever met, and ever will meet. Surely you must understand this, you who she saved and brought into her home?"

"I … I kinda thought she maybe wanted my blood or something…" Tsukune mumbled, feeling ashamed all of a sudden.

"Rest assured, Akasha-sama has absolutely no interest in your blood, Tsukune-san," Masao said, getting back to his feet. "But all this being so new to you, I suppose I can see why you might think like that." He smiled again. "You humans have some interesting interpretations when it comes to vampires after all."

Tsukune had a pretty good idea at what the manservant was hinting at, but decided that it was not a topic that needed discussion. Meanwhile, Masao walked over to the door, gesturing for the young boy to follow him. "Come here, Tsukune-san. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Tsukune followed the manservant back down into the great hall. Akasha was nowhere to be seen. As the manservant lead him down a corridor whose walls were decorated with the most beautiful ink paintings he'd ever seen. They showed a multitude of different scenes, from a group of humans worshipping some sort of idol, to monsters of all kinds, dragons, werewolves, vampires and many more. The most impressive of all of them portrayed some kind of battle between three shadowy figures, and a gigantic, worm-like beast that vaguely resembled the monster from _Alien. _He wanted to ask Masao if these were actual, historical events, but the manservant had already opened the double door at the end of the corridor, gesturing for him to follow. Inside, there was a dining room, with a long table and several chairs carved out of dark wood.

Tsukune started. On the closest chair, with her elbows on the table, sat the silver-haired girl he'd seen outside of his room ten minutes ago. She pushed herself away from the table, her eyes wandering to him, then to Masao, and back to him again. Now that she was standing in front of him, he could see that she was a few inches taller than him, and perhaps a year older. Her angelic beauty rivaled even that of Akasha, leaving Tsukune with no doubt that they were related. This girl's features were decisively less soft Akasha's though. More … vampiric.

"Moka-sama, I'd like you to meet Tsukune-san," Masao said, bowing to the girl. "He will be staying with us from now on."

"Why?" the girl asked, regarding Tsukune with eyes that were neither friendly, nor hostile.

"Your mother will explain later," Masao answered, retreating out into the corridor again. "For now, do me a favor and show him around, would you please. I have some … business to take care of." The manservant gave Tsukune a wink and promptly left them, leaving Tsukune all alone with this slightly disquieting girl. Ok, what the hell was he supposed to do now?

"You're a human," the girl stated with wonder, like she'd just found an exotic plant where it didn't belong.

"Um … yeah," Tsukune said, managing to keep most of the nervousness he was feeling out of his voice. Most of it.

The girl cocked her head, taking a step forward. Her nostrils expanded for a second, and he heard her draw a deep breath. It was like the red in her eyes flared for a moment, and he couldn't help but notice how her gaze briefly touched his neck. He wanted to back away, but stood his ground nonetheless.

"Tsukune?" she asked. "That's your name?"

"Yeah," he said again. "And you're … Moka?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice echoing his. She was close enough for him to reach out and touch her now, but there was no way in hell he was doing that. Even if this girl was only a fraction as strong as Akasha, she could probably crush his head like a soft-boiled egg.

"Why are you here?" she asked, leaning forward. This time he took an unconscious step back, and his back hit the wall.

"Uh, it's a long story," he muttered.

The girl had him trapped now. He'd stepped into a corner, and she was standing less than an arm's length away. Her eyes travelled to his neck again, and this time, they stayed. Her lips parted, and he could hear her breathing quicken.

"You … smell so good…" she whispered slowly, like she was in some kind of trance.

Tsukune closed his eyes. Why, why were his hands shaking like this? He'd already lost everything, hadn't he? All he had left was his life. So why was he so afraid of dying? Wasn't this what he'd wanted, when he'd first seen his father's broken, unmoving body in the back of a smelly truck? Hadn't a part of his mind wanted to tell Akasha to just end it all, to snap his neck between her delicate hands?

"No."

He felt the girl come to a halt. "What?"

"I don't want to. Please don't." He felt pathetic, begging like this, but he couldn't help it. He sank down on the ground, nails digging into his face.

"Moka!"

He looked up. Akasha was back, standing in the doorway. She was staring at him, cowering on the ground, and at the girl standing over him, her hands halfway reached out at him.

Moka stepped back quickly. "I didn't do anything!" she said.

Akasha frowned, but said nothing. She walked over to Tsukune, smiling reassuringly. "Moka's never met a human before," she said. "She's just curious."

Tsukune nodded, pushing himself back on his feet, embarrassed that Akasha had seen him like this. His fear had melted away the moment he'd heard her voice.

"Now then," Akasha said, putting a hand on both of their shoulders. "I believe that Masao introduced already, but let's now do it properly. Tsukune, this Moka, my only daughter. Moka, this is Tsukune. His father was killed by a monster last night, and since he has nowhere to go, he will be staying with us from now on. Is that understood?"

"Yes, mother," Moka said, sounding a touch shocked.

Tsukune looked away. He didn't want the girl's sympathy. All of a sudden, he felt an overwhelming desire to be alone.

"Akasha-san."

"Yes, Tsukune?"

"I feel very tired, and I've already eaten. Could I please go to my room and rest a little?"

Akasha let her hand slide off of his shoulder. "Of course. Just call for Masao if you need anything."

He nodded, and walked away without saying anything else, and without offering Moka another glance. He felt the silver-haired girl's eyes on his back as he exited the room though.

He briefly pondered exploring the rest of the house when he got back into the main hall, but decided that snooping around without first asking permission would be rude. He walked back up to the fourth floor and entered his room, walking over to the bag he'd brought and fished out an iPod, lying down on the bed. He began to play a random song and put an arm over his eyes. He'd only said he needed to rest because he wanted to be left alone, but now that he was here, he found that he was really, _really _tired. He grabbed one of the pillows and put it under his head, asleep before the first song was finished.

* * *

_Daddy, do you believe in fairies? _

_Why, of course son. I told you, didn't I? Daddy's met lots of fairies, and elves too. _

_Trolls too?_

_Yes, trolls too. _

_But how come the trolls didn't eat you? _

_Ah, you see son, daddy's a clever man. He fooled the trolls and made them think he was one of them. _

_Did you see witches too? And snow women? And spirits? _

_Oh yes, daddy's seen them all. _

_In that other world? _

_Yes, in that other world. _

_Can we go there one day, daddy? And see the fairies together? _

_Maybe. But then you'll have to grow a little older first. _

_How much older? _

_Let's see … first and foremost, you'll have to be able to sleep with the lights out. _

_I can do that!_

_Really?_

_Yeah!_

_Then why don't I just turn it the lights off then?_

…

_Daddy?_

_I'm here son. _

_That other world that mommy went too … can we visit that one too? _

_One day son, one day. But not just yet. _

_Goodnight, daddy. _

_Goodnight son._

* * *

Tsukune's eyes flew open. The room was dark. He must've been asleep for hours. He rolled out of the bed, ripping the headphones out of his ears, stumbling towards the bathroom. He kicked the door open and lunged for the toilet. He made it just in time. Masao's formerly exquisite home-made food was forcing its way up his up gullet and out of his mouth. When he was done, he sank into the wall with his right shoulder, sobbing. The tears that wouldn't come before was blinding him now, dripping down onto the tiled floor. He wrapped his arms around his chest, as if to cover the gaping hole that had been carved into it.

"Ssssshhh," a quiet voice said, an arm wrapping itself around his shoulders, gently pulling him into a soft hug. "It's okay," Akasha whispered. "It's okay. Just let it come out. All of it."

He wanted to stop crying, but the tap had been turned, and the flow wouldn't stop before nothing was left. So he stopped trying to fight it. Instead, he let his cheek rest against her chest, let the tears trickle down and get absorbed by the blackness of her dress. Let her hand keep moving in circles on his back. Let himself listen to her. Let himself be comforted.

"It's okay."


	4. Of vampires and gigantic boars

**Special thanks to Benidate86, without whom this chapter would be clusterfuck of literary excrement.**

* * *

When Tsukune awoke, for one blissful moment, he had no memory of the events that had transpired the last 24 hours. He yawned, thinking about school, his friends (especially Midori Akita, the girl he'd liked for several months now). It was almost like he could hear his father rummage around in the kitchen downstairs. Then it all came back to him.

He waited a moment, expecting the tears to start flowing again, but nothing came. He guessed he'd poured out all that he had into Akasha's dress last night. Akasha … had he imagined her coming to comfort him? He must've passed out in her arms, because he couldn't remember going back to bed. Frankly, he couldn't remember much about anything past her entering the bathroom.

He got out of bed and discovered fresh cloths laid out on a chair. He put them on and left the room, walking down into the grand hall. The smell of fried eggs led him into a large room that obviously served as the house's kitchen. Whistling a cheerful tune, Masao prepared breakfast, his hands whirlwinds of efficiency.

"Good morning, Tsukune-san," he said without turning his head, although Tsukune could've sworn he'd entered the room without making a sound. "What is your opinion on eggs? Fried, hard-, or soft-boiled?"

"I prefer fried," Tsukune said, sinking down on a chair by the kitchen counter. "Where are the others?"

"Akasha-sama is upstairs. She recieved a very important phone call. Moka-sama will join us momentarily. She's out in the forest performing her morning exercises, no doubt." The manservant threw him a freshly baked bun. "There, let me know what you think."

Tsukune took a bite. It tasted of warmth, stove and milk. He finished it in three bites.

"That's what I thought," Masao chuckled.

"That was the best bun I've ever tasted," Tsukune said sincerely.

"I would've been surprised if it wasn't," Masao said, emptying two eggs into a frying pan. "I've been perfecting the recipe for _quite _some time."

Before Tsukune had the chance to ask exactly what "quite some time" meant, the silver-haired girl, Moka, appeared in the doorway, wearing black pants and a white tank top under a grey jacket. If she'd been exercising, she showed no sign of tiredness or being the least sweaty. She sent him a fleeting look, and then sat down on a chair on the other side of the room. Tsukune thought of the way he'd acted in front of her yesterday and felt an embarrassed blush creep up his neck. He was delivered from a possible awkward situation by the entrance of Akasha, who was wearing the same black dress from the day before.

"Good morning everyone." Akasha smiled.

"Good morning, Akasha-sama." Masao smiled back.

"Good morning, Mother." Moka nodded respectfully.

"Good morning," Tsukune muttered.

Akasha walked up to Tsukune, putting a hand on his shoulder lightly. She was still smiling, but he could sense concern in her eyes. Great, last night hadn't been a dream after all. He wished the earth would rise up and swallow him like one of the rogue monsters Masao had talked about.

"I'm fine."

She was far from convinced, that much was obvious, but Akasha didn't pursue the subject. Instead, she turned to Masao. "Something came up. I have to speak with Mikogami at once. I trust you'll look after everything while I'm gone."

"As always, Akasha-sama," the manservant said, bowing.

Akasha nodded, turning to her daughter. "Moka."

The silver-haired girl stood up on light feet and walked over to her mother. Akasha bent over, whispering something into her daughter's ear, but from the way Moka's eyes momentarily fluttered to him, he could easily tell what Akasha was telling her: _Be nice to the new kid. _

Akasha left without another word, leaving the rest of them to eat a quiet breakfast. Masao whistled a happy tune throughout the meal, but didn't touch the food once. Moka only drank a glass of tomato juice, stealing glances at him every ten seconds. The wolf-like appetite Tsukune had experienced the day before had receded, but he ate heartily anyway to please Masao. When he was finished, he bowed for the old manservant with interweaved fingers. "Thank you so much for the meal."

The manservant practically beamed. "It's been such a long time since we've had someone with a healthy appetite in this house. I was worried my culinary skills would get all rusty." He rose. "Now, if I remember correctly, I asked you to give Tsukune-san a tour of the property yesterday, didn't I, Moka-san?"

"Yes," Moka answered, looking expectantly at Tsukune.

He took the hint. "We never got around to it," he said quickly. "I was … not feeling so well."

"I know," Masao said, "which is why _now _would be such a great time to resume where you two left off yesterday, or what?"

Tsukune opened his mouth to answer, but Moka hurriedly cut him off. "Sure."

"Excellent," Masao said. "Run along, Tsukune-san, I have a kitchen to clean and more meals to plan!"

Tsukune reluctantly got up from the table. After what had happened last time he was alone with this girl, he wasn't very eager to repeat the experience, but he followed her out of the room nonetheless, staying a pace behind her. She led him into the great hall and out the front door without a word. She halted in front of the big fountain and turned to face him. Once again, Tsukune was struck by how ridiculously beautiful she was, and despite himself, he felt his heart rate quicken.

"Did I scare you yesterday?" she asked, right out of the blue.

"Uh, no!" Tsukune said, feeling his cheeks go warm.

"You looked pretty scared to me," she said impassively.

"Well, I've only known about monsters being real and shit for like, a day or two. Excuse me for being jumpy," he snapped, a little louder than he'd meant. Moka seemed completely unfazed though, regarding him with a calm, crimson gaze.

"You're upset," she stated.

Tsukune was about to snap again and state that he was not, but that would've made him look like a fool. No matter how you looked at it, he was upset.

"Sorry for being upset," he muttered, studying his shoes.

Moka kept studying him for a few seconds, and then turned around. "Come, I'll show you around."

He trotted after her, wondering if he'd made a mistake by coming here after all. No, that was a stupid thought. Masao's food alone was worth it.

She led him across the circular lawn that surrounded the mansion, into the forest. Tsukune barely recognized any of the trees or plants they passed. One thing was certain, they were not Japanese. Most of them looked like they belonged in western countries, others looked outright alien. One giant plant right beside the trail looked most of all like an octopus made out of cellulose, with long, tentacle-like appendages that he _swore _he could see move in his peripheral vision every time he looked away. There were animals too, squirrels, deer, birds and so on, just sitting or walking around, paying them no attention. After five minutes of walking, Tsukune nearly fainted when a humongous bear, appeared out of a bush. Moka absentmindedly patted its snout as she walked by, and it retreated back into what had to be a den. Tsukune wanted to walk in an arc around the bush, but without turning her head, Moka told him not to leave the trail. He obeyed reluctantly.

"Are all these animals, you know, friendly?" he asked, his eyes darting from side to side, watching for more bears.

"They won't bother you if you don't bother them, if that's what you mean."

They walked in silence for an additional twenty minutes, before the forest finally ended. Tsukune sighed, glad to finally see the sun and feel the wind on his face again. Since he had his eyes closed, he nearly walked right over the precipice located a few meters from the forest's end.

"Stop," Moka said, grabbing his collar.

Tsukune opened his eyes. Right before him was nothing, just empty air and sky stretching out as far as the eye could see. He looked down. His right foot was a few inches from the precipice's edge. Thousands of meters below them, clouds drifted around lazily. There was no sign of the earth anywhere.

"FUCK!" he shouted, tumbling backwards. Moka wisely let go of his collar, watching as he tripped over a root and tumbled back down the slope they'd just ascended. He stopped after about five meters,breathing heavily with his face pressed into a birch of some sort. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking up. Moka was staring down at him with her hands folded behind her back, looking slightly amused.

"You did that on purpose," he breathed shakily.

"You were the one who walked blindly to the edge of a cliff," she said. "Being a human in a youkai dimension, perhaps you ought to watch were you're going."

"Point taken," he muttered, getting back on his feet. "Is it like that around the entire circumference of the forest?"

"Yes."

"But … what's down there?" he asked, pointing to the ground.

"Nothing. The clouds you saw are just an illusion created for aesthetic reasons. If you'd fallen over the edge, you would've met the end of the dimension after a few meters."

"And then what?"

"You'd disintegrate."

Tsukune fought back the urge to vomit. "Okay, any other deathtraps I ought to be aware of?"

"Well, there is the gigantic, flesh-eating boar that roams this forest," Moka said, looking around like she expected it to come charging out of the nearest bush.

Tsukune snickered. "Right, flesh-eating boars. I got you."

Moka started walking back down the slope. His smile began to fade as he watched her go. "Wait, you were_ kidding_ about the boar, right?"

"Don't stray from the path, and you won't have to find out," she answered.

Tsukune cursed inwardly and hurried after her.

* * *

Moka made sure to keep at least a six foot distance between herself and the boy as they made their way back to the manor. The smell of his blood was parading through her nostrils, setting her throat on fire. In comparison, the blood she'd consumed from the blood transfusion bags stored in the freezer this morning had smelled like garbage. Not for the first time, she wondered how the boy would react if she simply asked him for permission to drink a little of his blood. Probably with terror, and besides, her mother had strictly forbidden her to even contemplate the idea. _As vampire's we're dependent on humans, Moka, but they are not our prey. Promise me you will never attempt to drink that boy's blood._

_Yes mother, _Moka had answered immediately, like she always did when her mother asked something of her. Still, there was no denying the allure he held for her, and not just because of his blood. This boy had lived his entire life on the _outside, _in the human world, the _real _world. Moka had only visited other dimensions perhaps a little over a dozen times, always in the company of either her mother or Masao, and she'd _never_ been to the human world. She knew what it was like there, having obtained information through books and the TV (which was always on in the living room on the second floor), but that was it. This boy represented the first ever first-hand contact she'd had with the human world, and she had no idea what to do.

She glanced back for the hundred and seventh time in a motion far too quick for a human eye to observe. Tsukune was still acting nervously, glancing back and forth. His father had died less than 48 hours ago, killed by an outcast ayashi. Shouldn't he be feeling fear and disgust in her presence because of that? She thought she'd detected it yesterday, when he had shrunk away from her touch, but now, she didn't feel it at all. How strange.

She tried imagining losing _her _only parent like that, seeing her mother lie cold and motionless at her feet. The idea itself was surreal, her mother was one of the two strongest vampires that had ever walked the earth and first of the dark lords. The idea of her being killed was ludicrous. Still, suppose it _did _somehow happen, how would she feel? The answer was simple, she had no idea, and she didn't want to find out, _ever. _

Should she try to comfort him in some way? She didn't know how. In the books she'd read and the movies she'd seen, people would put their arms around the person in need of comfort and tell them everything was going to be okay. She tried to picture herself doing that to this boy. No, he would probably just get scared again. Better for her to keep her distance and just observe for now.

* * *

After getting back, Moka took him on a tour of the rest of the house, with the exception of the cellar, the attic, and her mother's office. Apparently, Moka wasn't allowed to set her foot in any of these places without her mother's permission. There were several rooms that sparked Tsukune's interest, but none more so than the library, which took up most of the third floor. Tsukune had never been much of a bookworm, but even he got stars in his eyes when he saw "A thousands monsters and how to kill them"_, "_The ways of the Vampire"_, _and "Creatures of the deep seas"_. _He pulled out a random book, opening a random page, and nearly dropped it in surprise when the red dragon drawn on the left page turned its head and regarded him with a single, golden eye. He turned to Moka, all reserve forgotten.

"Are there really dragons as well?" he asked breathlessly.

She eyed him, one eyebrow raised. "You're currently being shown around the house by a vampire, and you're surprised dragons exist?"

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess nothing should surprise me at this point. Where do they live then?"

"They can be found in several dimensions, but most of them live in Jormungard, one of the oldest and most remote dimensions. I wouldn't recommend going there though, unless you desire a certain death."

"How about vampires?" Tsukune asked. "Where do they live?"

"Some live in the human world, disguised of course," Moka said. "But we also have a dimension to ourselves, which is where most of us live."

"But how do you keep yourselves sustained if you're not living with and hunting humans?"

Moka's expression didn't change, but somehow he felt that the question made her uneasy. "We … have our ways."

Her answer made him uneasy as well, but he didn't pursue it. Instead, he asked about something that had been nagging him for some time. "What exactly is a 'dark lord'?"

"They are the guardians of all monsters, responsible for upholding the law and making sure humans doesn't discover us," Moka said. "There are currently twelve of them."

"And your mother is the leader."

"Yes," Moka said, a hint of pride in her voice.

He wanted to ask about the rest of the dark lords, but just then Masao appeared beside a bookshelf, though Tsukune could've sworn he hadn't been there an eye blink before.

"There you are," he beamed. "Akasha-san has returned. It's time for lunch!"

Tsukune reluctantly moved to put the book back in its place, but Moka told him he could just bring it to his room if he wanted to read it. He immediately grabbed the five most interesting looking books in front of him, tucking them under his arm and dumping them in his room before joining the rest of them down in the dining room, where he'd first talked to Moka the day before. Akasha was sitting at the end of the table, hands folded. She smiled when she saw him entering the room, gesturing for him to take a seat to her left. Moka was sitting opposite of him, holding a white plastic bag from which she was sucking some kind of red liquid…

He felt the urge to vomit again.

Food had already been placed on the table in front of him, Miso-Ramen and vegetables. It smelled delicious of course, so even though he wasn't really that hungry yet, he began to shovel the food down.

"I trust Moka took the time to show you the property today?" Akasha asked.

"Yeah, I got a _really _close look at everything," he said, glaring at Moka, who hid a grin behind her hand, turning her head away. "Is there really a gigantic flesh-eating boar running around in the forest?"

"My daughter seems to think so," Akasha said, frowning at Moka, though Tsukune could hear the affection in her voice. "I personally have not yet seen it, but then again, she's spent far more time in that forest than I have these recent years. I remember one time about 50 years ago though, when a Wyvern snuck in through the inter-dimensional tunnel. Do you remember that, Masao?"

"Yes, Akasha-sama," the manservant answered from behind Tsukune's chair, scaring the crap out of the young boy. Who the hell was he that he could just appear out of thin air like that? Batman? "It took me a week to hunt down and sedate the beast. Then two weeks to find all the eggs it had left behind."

"I'm not making things up," Moka protested, somehow managing to glare at all three of them at once. "I've seen it three times already. It was chasing the deer around, scaring everything from insects to wolves."

"Well then," Akasha said, lacing her fingers together, "why don't you make use of the skills Masao taught you, and build a trap for this beast of yours? You are fifteen after all. An overgrown pig should be easy enough for you to handle."

There was a twinkle in Moka's crimson eyes. "Really?"

"Yes," Akasha said. "You're a vampire, an S-class super monster. Last I checked, gigantic boars were a mere D-rank."

"Does that mean I'm ready for the human world as well?" Moka asked quietly.

It was like the temperature in the room dropped five degrees in a matter of seconds. Akasha's playful demeanor evaporated like water spilled on a hot stone in the summer.

"No," she said, her voice sharp as steel.

"But mother…" Moka protested.

Akasha rose, gesturing for Masao to clear the table. "I will hear no more of this. If it's adventure you desire, go out and catch that boar, but you will not leave this dimension without my permission. We've talked about this a hundred times."

"It would be fine if I had him with me, showing me how to act, wouldn't it!?" Moka asked loudly, pointing at Tsukune. Crap, why did she have to drag him into this?

Akasha slammed her hand down on the table, making a glass jug fall over and spill water all over the floor. "Don't even think about trying to coax this boy into taking you to the human world, Moka. _Neither_ of you get to go there until I say otherwise. Do you understand?"

Moka didn't answer.

"_Do you understand_!?"

"Yes, mother," Moka murmured.

Akasha lifted her hand from the table, looking a touch embarrassed all of a sudden, probably regretting losing her temper like that. She sent Tsukune a forced smile. "Excuse me, Tsukune, I have some more work to do." She exited the room, quickly followed by Masao, who was balancing the dishes on his hands and head respectively. He sent Moka an apologetic look, before closing the door behind him with his foot.

Tsukune looked at Moka carefully. Her fists were clenched and her eyes looked like they were about to bath the room with laser beams. Overall, she seemed to emit a very I'm-too-pissed-to-even-speak-right-now aura. He was curious though. Moka wasn't allowed to go to the human world? Was that a rule for all monster children? Perhaps he should ask Masao. He pushed himself up from the table and turned to leave. It looked like Moka could use a little alone time anyway…

"Where do you think you're going?"

He froze mid-movement, hoping this did not mean what he thought it meant. "Uh, I thought maybe I'd go upstairs and start reading those books?"

In a flash, Moka was around the table, standing right next to him. "You can do that later. Right now, you're going to help me catch that boar."

Tsukune looked at her incredulously. "You were serious about that?"

"Of course I was!" she snapped, grabbing his hand, which made him start. Her hand was _so _cold, even more so than Akasha's. Did vampires get colder when they got angry?

Ignoring his numerous protests, she dragged him out of the house and into the forest. After about ten meters, she exclaimed: "This is going too slow!" She turned around, sweeping his feet away from under him with a low kick, and he yelped as he fell backwards. Before he could hit the ground though, she caught him, holding him in her arms the same way a knight would a newly rescued damsel in distress.

"What the hell are you-" he began, before the air pressure forced the last word back down his throat as Moka shoot forward with the speed of an express train. His eyes began to pump out tears to counteract the wind's drying effect. He wanted to scream, but he could barely breathe. The experience lasted maybe a minute, but by the time Moka came to a halt, it was a small miracle he hadn't passed out.

"Tsukune," Moka said from somewhere above.

"What?" he groaned, trying to get the world to stop spinning.

"Your hand."

What did she mean, "his hand"? The left was just hanging down; the right was clenched around something soft, fleshy and round...

He looked right at it. His right hand was squeezing Moka's left boob like a water balloon. Oh crap…

Moka let go of him, like one would let go of a fish too small to keep, but made sure to do so in a way that made him land with his head first. The blow made him bite his tongue, which made him yelp again, this time in pain. His tongue burning, he sat up. They were at the bottom of a hollow in the terrain. There was a tarn there. Moka was using the still water as a mirror, straightening her cloths.

"Do you usually feel a girl up when they offer you a ride?" she asked, turning to face him, a dark look on her face. Tsukune figured he'd just lost whatever plus points he'd had before.

"Hey, you startled me!" he protested. "I didn't mean to … grab you … right there…" His voice trailed off.

"Whatever," Moka sighed, rolling her eyes.

Tsukune rose up, trying to ignore the flaming pain in his mouth. "So, what are we doing here?"

"This," Moka said, gesturing at the glittering tarn, "is the only source of water in the forest large enough to nurture the boar. Sooner or later, it has to come here."

"And what are you planning on doing when it comes? Punching it?" he asked sarcastically.

A wry smile formed on her lips. "Something like that." She hunched down, and then launched herself into the air, disappearing among the branches above him.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" he shouted after her.

"Getting into an ambush position," came the answer.

"And what am I supposed to do? Just stand here?"

"Of course!"

"What!?"

"Why do you think I brought you along? Obviously, you're the bait!"

"WHAT!?"

"It can't be helped. Humans are the natural prey of almost all monsters, you know. Just sit down and be calm. I won't let it get anywhere near you." Pause. "Probably."

"To hell with this, I'm leaving," Tsukune hissed to himself, turning to walk away. There was only one problem. He did not have the slightest idea in which direction to go.

"Don't even think about it," came the voice from the branches. "It's not safe for you to walk alone in these woods."

"As opposed to sitting on a rock, waiting for a flesh-eating boar to come and eat me!" he shouted back angrily.

"Indeed. Now shut up or it'll never show."

Tsukune opened his mouth to start another tirade, but then changed his mind. Moka did not seem intent on backing down on this, and there was no way he was going back into that forest on his own. Waiting for Moka to realize how pointless this was seemed like the better option, so he simply sat down and waited.

He lasted exactly five minutes before the overall creepiness of the forest around him and the situation he was in got to him, and he opened his mouth to start shouting at Moka again, but something made him pause. A weird, unpleasant odor was playing in his nose. Like … decaying meat. And it was getting stronger. He turned around.

Something was moving through the forest far ahead of him. He couldn't tell what it was, but judging by the trees beside it, it was massive. The odor grew stronger and stronger until it became an outright stench, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. He could hear it now, forcing its way through the woods, crunching bushes under its feet, and making trees move and groan as its humongous form brushed against them. Tsukune's hands fell to his side, and his heart began to pound like a drunken drummer. Five minutes? _Five _goddamn minutes for the thing to arrive? He knew he should've showered before breakfast, but _come on!_

The creature stepped into the clearing. From snout to tail, it was probably six meters long, and its shoulders towered over Tsukune. Long, yellow, barbed tusks grew out of its mouth, dripping with some kind of yellow liquid. The eyes were two tiny, yellow spots in the middle of a gigantic, flattened face. The hide was black with streaks of grey, and it bore the marks of many fights. One of its ears had been chewed off completely. A gigantic, flesh-eating boar, standing less than ten meters away from him. The brute and the lizard man had been nothing, _nothing_ compared to this beast. The smell of it alone was making his vision go blurry. The boar looked at him with its tiny, evil eyes, snorted once, and charged.

Tsukune staggered backwards, and his foot got caught by a stone. The ground was shaking from the weight of the beast, smaller stones dancing across the ground. The boar lowered its head, opening its mouth. The teeth belonged on a lion, long, sharp and filthy with dried blood. Tsukune closed his eyes, thinking of his old house, his friends and Christmas with his father. He could see it all so clearly now.

Moka hit the boar a split second before it reached Tsukune, slamming into its side with her shoulder. A chill passed down Tsukune's spine as he heard the beast's gigantic ribs break. The boar was thrown off course, slamming into the tarn, snout first, creating a small tidal wave. Moka jumped up, disappearing among the branches again. Tsukune was swept backwards by the water, carried almost to the top of the hollow. He sat up, coughing.

The boar was on its feet again, staggering slightly, but still on its feet. It howled hatefully at the branches above it, charging into the nearest tree, knocking it down. Moka did not come down with it. Tsukune rolled to his feet, crouching behind the closest tree. It was all up to Moka now. All he could do was watch.

The boar knocked down another tree, and this time, Moka _did _come down with it, somersaulting through the air, her heel hitting the top of the boars head with a _bam! _The boar reeled, but didn't fall. It threw Moka away with its head, one of its tusks tearing through her white shirt. She landed on her feet, dragging one hand through her hair, smiling haughtily. She and the boar began to circle each other. Tsukune saw that the boar was limping, which only made him tense up. A wounded animal was not to be taking lightly, especially if said animal weighed more than an average elephant.

The boar surged forward in one last ferocious attack. Tsukune expected Moka to dodge, but she held her ground, reaching out to the boar, as if she wanted to hug it. They met in a clash of titans, Moka's hand closing around the boars tusks. Her feet ripped the earth apart like a plow as the boar pushed her backwards, toward the tarn. Tsukune didn't know why, but somehow, he felt that something terrible would happen if Moka was thrown into the water. He began to rummage the ground beside him, looking for a rock or a stick, _anything _that could be used as a weapon. There was nothing though. All he could do was watch.

The boar was slowing down now, but it was still pushing Moka back mercilessly. Moka's face was a frozen mask of concentration and strain. Her lips were parted, revealing two alabaster fangs, and her eyes were glowing like red hot coal. She snarled, a sound more terrifying than the boar could ever produce, and just when a mere foot remained before her feet hit the water, they stopped. For a moment, they just stood there, boar and vampire, locked together in a soundless tug of war. Then, Moka _lifted _the elephant-sized boar into the air, holding it above her head for an impossible second or two, before slamming it back down onto the ground. This time, the boar didn't get back up.

Tsukune slowly emerged from his hiding place, barely able to process what he'd just seen. He slid down on the wet grass, joining Moka by the boar's head. It was still alive. He could hear it breathe slowly through broken lungs, but its body was broken beyond repair. A yellow eye fixated on Moka, tiredly, almost pleadingly. The silver-haired vampire stepped forward. Tsukune looked away.

There was the sound of bone shattering like glass, and a warm sticky fluid splattered all over his face. He looked at Moka, trying his best to ignore the hulking, disfigured form on the ground. Moka was covered in blood as well. She wiped some of it off of her face, tasting it, before spitting it out with disgust. Apparently, boar didn't suit her tastes.

"That was … amazing," he simply said. She looked at him, smiling tiredly.

"Sorry for almost letting it crush you."

Tsukune waved it away, as if near death experiences were an everyday occurrence for him (even though it really seemed like it _was_ lately).

"No problem. In fact, should you ever have to ride to my rescue again, just take your time. Buy some cappuccino on the way."

She raised a silver eyebrow. "Cappu … what?"

"Never mind," he sighed. He pointed at the boar's carcass, still not looking directly at it. "Are you just going to let that lie there or what?"

Moka proceeded to break off the tusks, dragging the carcass into the woods. It would provide the forest's predators with food for weeks, she said, and give the herbivores a much needed break. She then lifted the two tusks, each of them half as long as her height, like they were made of cardboard, walking back towards the house without a word. Tsukune followed close behind her.

He could tell that something had changed within her, and instinctively, he knew that this was the first time she'd killed another living being. As of right now, she was radiating a sort of solemn sadness. That yellow substance was still dripping from the tips of the tusks, dripping down on Moka's skin, but she paid it no mind, even though it burned through her already pretty torn clothes.

Tsukune was beginning to suspect that Akasha being so against Moka going to the human world was not all because of her worrying for her daughter's safety. He did not look forward to the catfight of monstrous proportions that was sure to occur if Moka resumed her demand. One way or another, he was convinced he'd get caught in the crossfire.

* * *

**Write me reviews or die. Verbal abuse is accepted as long as it contains constructive criticism. **


	5. Adventure time

**All credit to Benidate86 for betaing this.**

* * *

In the end, despite valiant effort, Tsukune was not able to avoid being dragged into the middle of the inevitable fight between mother and daughter. Moka dragged him with her effortlessly all the way to her mother's study, where she dumped the pair of tusks on the floor like two bin bags. Akasha put aside the silver bound book she'd been reading, watching as more poison dripped from the tips of the tusks, creating burn marks on the floor.

"That was quick," she said dryly, moving her gaze to her daughter's face. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

Tsukune tried to sneak out of the room now that Moka was busy with her mother, but the silver-haired vampire reached back and grabbed his arm without even looking at him, pulling him to her side.

"As I have told you many times mother, I can take care of myself," she said, turning her head to look at young boy. "Right?"

"Uh?" Tsukune grunted, surprised to be addressed. She promptly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ouch! Eh, I mean, yes. Moka was very good … at smashing that boar."

Another elbow.

"She was amazing, she saved my life!" He added, massaging his ribs.

If Moka had hoped for this to soften up her mother, she couldn't have been more wrong. As Tsukune uttered that last word, Akasha's expression turned dark as a thunderstorm.

"You took Tsukune on the hunt?" She asked her daughter slowly, every word dripping from her mouth like venom.

From the way Moka was biting her lip, it was obvious she'd just realized what a mistake it had been to have Tsukune bring that up, but she stood her ground nonetheless. "I did."

Akasha rose. She was tall for a woman, and the fire that sparkled behind her chair made her appear taller still. From the way her aura was making the hair on Tsukune's arms bristle, it was clear that she was very, _very _pissed, but her voice was calm and controlled when she said: "If I recall correctly, you promised me in this very room that you would _not _put Tsukune in unnecessary danger."

"I didn't," Moka said stubbornly. "I had it all under control."

Tsukune was not entirely sure that was true, but decided that it was in the interest of his current wellbeing to not add any additional fuel to the budding fire.

"You used him as bait, didn't you!?" Akasha said, her eyes flaring red for a moment. "That's how you managed to get to the boar this quickly!"

Tsukune thought he saw a flash of guilt on Moka's face, but it was gone so fast that he wondered if it had just been his imagination. "I had it all under control," she repeated.

"Masao!" Akasha yelled. Almost instantly, the old butler was in the room, pulling one of his batman entries. Tsukune didn't even flinch this time, simply assuming the manservant was the unknown uncle of Nightcrawler or something.

"Yes, Akasha-sama?"

"My daughter is exhausted from her efforts," Akasha said, motioning at the tusks on the floor, which disappeared in a puff of smoke as she pointed at them. "She will retire to her chambers … _for the_ _rest of the day._"

Moka opened her mouth to protest, but Masao silenced her by putting his hand on her shoulder, sending her a smile that was both reassuring and dissuading at the same time. Moka sent her mother a bitter look, but allowed Masao to lead her out of the room. Tsukune turned to follow, but Akasha stopped him with a hand gesture. "Please stay, Tsukune. I want to talk to you."

Tsukune dropped into a chair by the wall, crossing his arms, expecting some kind of scolding, but Akasha simply sighed, sinking down into her own chair.

"I'm sorry, Tsukune, I didn't expect her to act this rashly," she said while sending him an apologetic look, smiling sadly. "No matter how long you live I suppose you'll ever grow immune to getting blindsided by your family. I hope you weren't injured?"

"No, I'm just fine," he said, flexing his arms and neck to prove his point. Akasha's smile grew a millimeter wider.

"My daughter is angry with me for refusing to allow her to travel to the human world," she explained. "It's been a major disagreement of ours for some time now. Our first and only, really. She thinks that I don't trust her to look after herself."

"Do you?" Tsukune asked bluntly.

"My daughter is both brave and capable, and not to mention, extremely strong," Akasha said, letting a pale finger slide across a portrait of her daughter on her desk, "but all that does not equate to experience. My daughter is all I have, Tsukune. If something were to ever happen to her…" She let the end of the sentence hang in the air, pausing for a moment. "I'm also afraid she might reveal herself, of course. Monsters have been required to ask for a special permit in order to visit or inhabit parts of the human worlds for centuries now. It's the only way to avoid a full scale war, at least for the moment. But of course, there are those that do not obey the law, as you have experienced yourself, sadly."

Tsukune nodded, eyes nailed to the ground.

"Tsukune?" Akasha said, her voice softer than a feather pillow.

He looked up. "Yes?"

"Your father's funeral was conducted this morning. If you wish, I could take you for a short visit to his grave tomorrow."

Tsukune actually wanted that, wanted it badly, but…

"No thank you, it's…"

"Too soon?"

"Yes," he lied. Truthfully, the prospect of being able to visit his father's grave alone was tempting, but if he did, he would almost surely break down in tears again, and he was not about to show Akasha his weak side after what had transpired last night. He'd go there eventually, of course, but he would do so alone.

"As you wish," Akasha said, leaning back in her chair, her posture signaling that the conversation was over. He rose, hoping that Moka had not broken out of her room and was waiting to ambush him in the room outside.

"Tsukune."

He turned back. Akasha was staring at him, her emerald eyes drilling into his intently. She was reaching for him with a pale, slender hand. He took it awkwardly. Her skin was still cold, but less so than Moka's. She placed her free hand on his right cheek, her thumb sliding across the skin below his right eye. Her palm was like cool glass on his skin, but her touch still sent warm pulses through his body.

"Promise me that whatever Moka tells you, you'll not let her trick you into going with her to the human world," she said.

"Okay … I mean, yes of course," he blurted, wondering why Moka, headstrong as she was, hadn't just gone there on her own already.

"The tunnel that connects this dimension with the rest is enchanted in a way that makes travel through it without a companion impossible," Akasha continued, as if having read his thoughts. "Moka knows this, and will undoubtedly try to make you follow her into the tunnel. Promise me that you will not do this."

"I promise," Tsukune said automatically. In the state he was in now, he would gladly have obeyed her had she asked him to jump through the window on his left. He remembered the way she'd stroked his back over and over when she came to comfort him last night, and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to sink into her side and let himself be embraced. God … what the hell was happening to him?

He stepped back, looking away shyly.

"There's another thing," Akasha said, placing her hands on her thighs, smothering her black dress.

"Yeah?"

"Do not, ever, let her drink your blood. No matter how much she begs you for it. Understand?"

"Okay," he said, surprised. Was this some kind of vampire courtesy thing perhaps?

"Well then, I think you are in need of a trip to the bathroom," Akasha remarked with a hint of humor in her voice, her eyes sliding over his dirty, torn cloths. Crap, he'd forgotten all about that.

"Yes, Akasha-sama," he said, blushing all over, practically fleeing the room. He did not get far though. Moka was waiting behind the first corner, seizing his arm the moment he rounded it. _Why me? _He thought as she pulled him into the nearest room, kicking the door shut behind her with her heel, nailing him to the wall.

"What did she tell you?" she hissed, her nose less than an inch from his.

"I'm not allowed to go to the human world with you," he said truthfully, just in case vampires were somehow able to smell lies.

Moka cursed under her breath, throwing an angry look in the direction of her mother's study. "Look," she said, removing her hands from his shoulders, "I just want a short trip to the other side, just five minutes. Mother's going to be gone for the whole day tomorrow. We'll be back before Masao even knows we're gone.

"Yes, we'll be back _long _before the ninja butler that can spring out of thin air notices a thing," Tsukune said sarcastically.

Moka got in his face again, her eyes glowing crimson in the dim light. Suddenly, he was very aware of the approximately five-centimeter height difference between them. "Listen to me. You have no idea what it's like being stuck in the same place year after year, never seeing something new, never _meeting _someone new. You saw what I did to that boar. You know that I'm not some helpless, little, human girl. I _saved _your life back there, you owe me."

Tsukune was tempted to point out that she was the one that had put him in harm's way in the first place, but the prospect of a two broken collarbones was somewhat dissuading.

"The human world it nothing special, especially if you compare it to this place," he said, refusing to meet her gaze.

"I don't care!" Moka insisted. "And just so you know, what mother says about me going to get exposed is complete bullshit. If that's the case, she'd let me go to Youkai Academy."

Tsukune blinked. "Wait, there's a school for monsters? Like Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Moka said, then frowned. "What's Hogwarts?"

"Only the coolest, fictional castle that has never existed," Tsukune said. "You've really never read Harry Potter?"

"See!?" Moka exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "This is just _another _thing I would have known about if mother hadn't insisted on keeping me imprisoned here!" She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Come on, Tsukune, five minutes is all I'm asking for."

Tsukune felt his resolve begin to crumble as he tried to picture himself in her place. How would he have felt if his father had insisted on keeping him locked up in their house since he was baby, only letting him out a few times each year? Probably freaking awful, but then again, Moka's circumstances was different, and he'd promised Akasha…

"You don't have to answer right now," Moka said, taking a step back again. "But just give it a little thought, please?"

He couldn't help himself, he had to nod. A smile took shape on Moka's pale face, and for a moment, her features seemed as soft as those of her mother's. "Thank you," she breathed into his ear, before zooming out of the room, making the curtains flutter. He sank down on his butt, groaning. He was now firmly stuck between the forest fire and the flood. What on earth was he supposed to do now?

* * *

All too quickly, the day went by, without any sweet dreams or nightmares this time. He rolled out of bed reluctantly and took a shower before going down to breakfast this time. Akasha had left, just like Moka had foretold. Masao was nowhere to be seen, but there was a table full of food already prepared. Only Moka was present as he entered the kitchen, sucking absentmindedly on a blood transfusion pack. She eyed him the moment he entered the room, continuing to observe him while he quietly ate his food. His original plan of trying to evade her for the rest of the day seemed pretty dumb now; it was clear she had no intention of letting him out of her sight.

He finished his breakfast, still without a clue of what do. Oblige Moka and risk the wrath of Akasha, or refuse her and thereby certain to incur _her _wrath? Moka paced around the table before he'd come to a conclusion. She leaned on the table with her hip and crossed her arms, staring at him expectantly.

"Well?"

Tsukune made a quick decision. "You said just five minutes, right?"

Mokka nodded wordlessly, eyes wide.

"Just a quick trip through then," he sighed. To be honest, it would be a little nice to see the other side again for him too, just to convince himself that his former life hadn't been some long dream.

"YES!" Moka hissed, pulling at his arm. "Come on. Masao is tending to the garden, now's our chance!"

He let her drag him out of the house, scouting nervously for the old manservant as the mansion shrank behind them, but Masao was still nowhere to be seen. As they half walked, half ran down the road through the forest, Tsukune kept an eye out for overgrown pigs that radiated a smell of sewage, but none appeared. After about twenty minutes, they reached a gigantic stone sticking right out of the ground, as if a giant had stomped it down into the earth. It was the size of a large church, and the tunnel through which Tsukune had entered this dimension the day before yesterday gaped at them from the side of the giant rock, a perfect semicircle that led into the darkness.

Tsukune drew a sharp breath. Right outside of the tunnel entrance, wearing one of his custom smiles, Masao was hunched down, removing little stones from the road before throwing them away. Moka's hand tightened around his arm, and her touch turned freezing.

"Good morning, Tsukune-san," Masao called, throwing yet another stone away. "I'm cleaning the road," he added, somewhat unnecessarily.

"Yeah, it's … it looks nice," Tsukune called back, glancing at Moka, who seemed to have turned into a marble statue.

"One could also say that I'm also here to make sure that no one who's not supposed to passes through this tunnel. We wouldn't like to have another beast sneak its way in here, would we?"

"Guess not," Tsukune said. The manservant had not recognized Moka's presence by words or eyes, but Tsukune knew very well whom the manservant's words were directed at.

"Also," Masaso continued, "you could say I'm also here so that in the unlikely event that _someone _who's supposed to be grounded in their room right now should suddenly decide that now is the time for a little expedition into, say, the human world, I would be obstructing their endeavor."

To be honest, Tsukune was relived. Now he wouldn't have to break his promise to Akasha, and Moka would have no cause to be angry at him.

"_Buuuuuuuut,_" Masao drawled, still smiling at Tsukune, "let's say that, in the scenario I just described, said someone promised to be careful, and be back before six o'clock, I might just be persuaded to look the other way. My, I might even be willing to not mention it to Akasha-sama."

Tsukune could not believe what he was hearing. Was the butler seriously suggesting what he was suggesting?

Flinging the last stone aside, Masao got to his feet, wiping a brown patch of dust from one of his knees. "Well, that's enough speculating for one day. I have a six storey house and the garden that surrounds it to attend to, which is a great deal more work than the already great deal of work you're probably imagining it is. Take care, Tsukune-san," the old butler winked at him, before walking past them towards the house, not casting a single glance at Moka. They watched him go until he disappeared around the nearest turn.

"What the hell was that?" Tsukune asked incredulously. "He's not … going to stop us?" He barely managed to mask the disappointment in his voice.

"That's Masao for you," Moka said warmly. "Come, let's go."

"Just a quick trip, right?" he said as she pulled him into the tunnel. She lasted about twenty seconds before halting, groaning loudly. "This is taking too long," she said, eying him. Her crimson eyes wereglowing red in the darkness, which was more than a little creepy.

"Hey wait," he said, taking a step back. "My first trip back to the human world is not going to be as a sack of potatoes on…"

He was interrupted when Moka preformed a trademark vampire flash move, throwing him over her shoulder so quickly that it knocked the breath out of his lungs, like a sack of potatoes. She then zoomed forward, the tunnel entrance behind them retreating faster than arctic sea ice in the twenty-first century. He barely had the time to get dizzy before he was suddenly blinded by sunlight.

Moka dropped him on his ass, taking two steps forward. Tsukune looked up, and his jaw fell to the ground. They were not on the abandoned dirt road in the middle of a dark forest, which was the place from which he'd entered Akasha's dimension. They were in the middle of a buzzing street in a city Tsukune had never seen. Heaps of people were hurrying around; taking no notice of the two teenagers that had just arrived from nowhere. Tsukune looked behind him, but there was nothing there. Just the concrete wall of a worn down apartment building.

"Oh gods," he somehow heard Moka whisper over the noise of the traffic. She was looking at a skyscraper that was looming probably sixty storeys over them, a colossus made of glass and metal. She reached out at it, as if she could run her hand down its side from where she was standing. "Is that … a building?"

"Yeah, it's tall all right," he said, moving to stand beside her. "So … any idea how we ended up here?"

Moka didn't answer, probably still too absorbed by the enormity of the world around her. Tsukune briefly tried to imagine what this must be like for her, having been kept secluded her whole childhood, but found himself unable to do so.

"Moka?" he said, nudging her arm lightly.

She looked at him reluctantly.

"How did we get here?"

"I have no idea," she said.

He stared at her for a few seconds, gaping like a fish. Moka would probably have started giggling if not for the seriousness of the situation.

"You … you have no idea?"

Moka turned her gaze towards the skyscraper again. "Somehow, we must've been disconnected from the tunnel along the way. Apparently, it happens sometimes. Do you know where this is?"

Tsukune was about to say that he didn't, but then he looked down the street, noticing a familiar form rising into the air in the distance, a gigantic spear-like tower that dwarfed the buildings surrounding it.

"Oh, shit," he whispered. "That's the Tokyo Sky Tree."

"We're in Tokyo?" Moka asked, eyes wide. "The capital of Japan?"

"Yeah, and a looooong away from where we should've been," Tsukune said. "How on earth are we going to get back?"

"We'll just have to find another tunnel entrance," Moka said. "They give off traces of demonic energy that all supernatural beings can sense." She closed her eyes for a minute, drawing a deep breath. Suddenly, her head jerked about 60 degrees to the side. "I sense a portal," she said, taking a step forward. "It's far away though, in a different part of the city."

"Wait," Tsukune said, holding two hands up in front of him. "You can _smell _it? Like a bloodhound?"

"An accurate, though not very flattering comparison," Moka said dryly. "As I said, _all _monsters can sense demonic energy. Of course, being a vampire, my senses are sharper than most." She began to walk down the street. "Let's go."

"Wait," he said, grabbing her arm. She looked at him with confusion and annoyance. "What?"

He edged closer, as close as he dared. "People are watching you," he whispered into her ear.

Perhaps it had been some lingering effect of the energy from the dimensional tunnel, but people had taken no interest in them when they first appeared. They were doing it now though, their eyes practically glued to Moka's angelic features and her silver hair. Most of them just looked stunned, but Tsukune thought he could see a few of them huddle closer together, a clear sign of fear. Moka's aura was affecting them, and while they did not realize it themselves, their subconscious knew it all too well. A monster was among them.

Tsukune pulled her into an alleyway, pulling off his hooded sweater, offering it to Moka. "Here, wear this. It should make you stand out less."

Moka accepted the sweater, pulling the hood down over her face. "Those people …they were frightened by me, weren't they?" she asked silently.

"Yeah well, it's not every day they see someone like you walking around," he said in an attempt to console her. "Do you know approximately how far away we are from the portal?"

Moka concentrated for a second. "10 kilometers, almost directly south."

"Too far to walk." Tsukune mused. "We could try the subway, but I've only done that once before, and in this city it's probably extremely complicated. I guess a cab would be easier." He dug through his pockets, pulling out what little money he'd had the presence of mind to bring. "Not enough. Do you have any money?"

Moka pulled a roll of bills from a pocket. "Mother has a bureau full of different currencies on the third floor."

"Holy … this has to be like … 200 000 yen," Tsukune breathed, his hands shaking. He'd never seen this much money in one place before.

"So it's enough?" Moka inquired.

"Are you kidding?" Tsukune said. "There's enough money here to drive us all the way to my hometown!"

There was a red twinkle in Moka's eyes.

"Don't even think about it."

* * *

It took them a while, but eventually they were able to hail a cab driven by a wrinkly, old dude with tufts of grey hair growing out of his ears. Tsukune gave him ten thousand yen right up front and told him to just drive south. The old guy, who'd been looking suspiciously at the hooded Moka until then, immediately became the very incarnation of friendliness, chatting away in a dialect barely understandable to Tsukune as they drove away. Moka's face was plastered to the window during the entire trip, her eyes drinking the city and its people like they were blood. Occasionally, Tsukune would lean over and ask her if they were getting closer, and she would nod wordlessly in response. Thanks to the traffic it took nearly half an hour before she told him that they were within walking distance.

They got out in front of some kind of park. Tsukune stuck his head in through the cab's window, asking where they were.

_Crap, _he thought as he heard the answer.

The park was surrounded by a canal, and above the trees, the green roofs of a grand building could be seen. Moka was staring at it under the brim of her hood. He walked over to stand beside her.

"Please tell me the portal is not somewhere inside that park," he said.

"It is," she said, eying him. "Is that a problem?"

"That is the grounds of the Imperial Palace!" Tsukune exclaimed. "Not open to tourists."

"It's a good thing we aren't tourists then," Moka smiled, beginning to walk over one of the bridges that connected the palace grounds with the rest of the city.

"Hey, wait!" He shouted, jogging after her. "We _are _not breaking into that place! That's the home of the emperor! That would be like … treason or something!"

"Aren't you the patriot," Moka said dryly. "Relax, we're just going to take a quick look, find the portal, and then we'll be gone. No harm done. Besides, aren't monarchs just supposed to be figureheads in this day and age?"

Tsukune gritted his teeth, not liking this, but if what Moka said was true, there was no other portal in the city, and if they didn't find their way back soon, Akasha was bound to discover what they'd done, a prospect far more threatening than the thought of having to face down a few security guards.

The entrances to the Imperial gardens were all gated and guarded. When Moka saw this, she lifted a disgruntled Tsukune like a princess, running forward and jumping over the gate too quickly for the two bored guards to notice. She landed on the other side without making a sound, immediately running into the trees, Tsukune right behind her.

"We're close," Moka breathed, stopping in the middle of a path. "I can feel it."

"You know," Tsukune panted, "I really wouldn't mind a lift right about now."

"You need to work out more," Moka said humorously, her eyes flicking briefly to his not too muscular torso.

"Yeah, yeah," he grunted, following her as she began to run again.

They arrived at the shore of a pond, not a person in sight. In the middle of the small lake, there was a circular, stone platform, on which a there was a metal ring, with a radius of perhaps four meters. Strangely enough, when Tsukune looked directly at it, it was like it flickered in and out of his vision, like a mirage.

"That's strange," he said, kneeling down to touch the water, which was surprisingly cold. "I've never heard of something like this being on the Palace grounds."

"The portal is hidden from human eyes by magic," Moka said, staring at the metal ring with a frown. "My aura is interrupting it, which is why you can see it."

"Well, I'm not seeing any boats, so I guess we've got to wade over there," Tsukune said, pointing at the stone platform. "At least the water is shallow."

"Wait," Moka said, pulling at his arm. If he didn't know better, he'd say she looked concerned, almost frightened.

"What?"

"You must carry me."

Tsukune looked at her, not believing what he was hearing. "You're kidding right? You're not actually afraid of getting wet?"

"Just do it, okay!?" She snapped, pushing him into the pond.

"There goes my best sneakers," Tsukune grunted, but he still allowed Moka to climb onto his back, wincing a little at sensation of her breasts pressing against his back. Even though she was taller than him, she was surprisingly light, and he carried her towards the stone platform with ease.

"So, how do we activate that thing?" He asked.

"If I touch it, my aura should activate it," Moka answered, her arms tightening around his neck.

"And then it'll take us home … right?"

"Hopefully, yes," Moka said slowly. "But to be quite honest, I can't guarantee I'll be able to navigate the-"

Without warning, a big, red koi fish broke the surface in front of them, sending a blast of water into his face, and a shiver through his body. That, however, was nothing compare to the chilling effect of the desperate scream that flew out Moka's mouth as the water came into contact with her skin. Her arms tightened around his neck even harder, blocking his windpipe completely. He stumbled forward, falling face-first into the pond. Moka immediately let go of his neck, trashing wildly in the water, accidently kicking him in the hip, which sent him crashing into the stone platform. He blacked out for a moment, then snapped back into consciousness as he sank beneath the water. He broke the surface with a hissing gasp, and then began to cough wildly as the freezing water he'd swallowed made his nose burn. Tears flowing down his cheeks, he looked for Moka.

The silver-haired vampire had somehow found her way to the deepest part of the pool, her head sinking beneath the surface again and again as she tried to doggy-paddle towards the shore. He waded forward, then began to swim as he realized it would be quicker. Meanwhile, Moka had gone under again, and this time, she wasn't about to resurface again. He drew a sharp breath and dived, sending a silent prayer to whatever gods he knew of to help him reach her in time. He could barely see anything thanks to all the mud Moka had kicked up, but not even a pool of ink could've hidden the silver glare of Moka's hair. His hand found one of her wrists, allowing him to pull her into a tight embrace, before kicking back against the bottom to send them both back into fresh air again. He then swam back towards the stone platform, blinking the water out of his eyes. His stiff fingers hit the side of it; sharp pain pulsated through his arm, but he ignored it, dragging himself and Moka out of the water.

He laid her down on her back beneath the metal circle. Her skin was somehow even paler than usual, and the silver glow of her hair had somehow grown dull and faint. Her eyes were closed, and her chest wasn't moving. He panicked for a moment, before the CPR he'd learned in school came back to him. He placed his ear above her mouth, but felt nothing. Not a whiff. He got up on his knees, placed his hands on her chest, and began to pump. 1 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … 7 … 8 … 9 … was it 15 thrusts or 30? 11 … 12 … 13 … 14 … 15 … fuck it. He removed his hands from her chest and hunched over her face, hesitating for the tiniest of seconds, before bringing his lips down on hers, blowing into her mouth as hard as he possibly could. Then again. Then back to pumping … blowing … pumping … blowing … pumping … blowing … nothing…

He continued until his arms were empty, and his breath gone, and then a little while longer, not stopping before his legs gave away due to pure exhaustion. And still … Moka wasn't breathing. His gaze pointed towards the sky, he was a bit surprised to see that it was black. Had he really been working on her for that long?

His face tipped over, and he saw the shore of the pond, and the person that was standing there, a person dressed completely in black.

It was him! The one who had gotten away from the warehouse where Tsukune's father had met his end. This should've surprised him, but somehow it seemed just right in the current circumstances.

_I should have died back then, but Akasha-san saved me. Now he's back to finish the job._

Dark eyes met his through two slits cut out of a dark cloth, and Tsukune closed his eyes as his own personal grim reaper stepped into the water.

* * *

**Cliffhangers just rock, don't they? Especially if you're the only one who knows what's going to happen. ****(trollface) **


End file.
